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Authors: Ashleigh Bingham
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recalled the terrifying feeling of helplessness as the vehicle tipped further and further, throwing them all around the interior, together with baskets, boxes, rugs and books.
They’d been frightened and bruised, but they’d scrambled from the upturned vehicle and, after sitting by the roadside for a few hours, the wheel had been replaced and they were on their way again.
She saw a moral in there somewhere. Life as she’d know it had just be turned upside down, but before the next day dawned, she’d reached a decision about how to set it back on course while she waited for the Fortitude ’s return.
She packed a portmanteau, left a forwarding address with the footman and caught the first train to Somerset. Emily and Martin were away on their honeymoon, but Victoria knew that they’d offer her refuge at Cloudhill while she waited for Peter to come back.
CHAPTER FIVE
When the door of Cloudhill was opened to Victoria’s knock, the butler’s long face broke into a smile. ‘Why, Miss Shelford, how good of you to come so soon! Mrs Frost is airing your room at this very moment.’ His glance quickly slid away from the bruise left by her mother’s blow on her cheek last night.
The man’s greeting puzzled her. She’d sent no message to inform Martin’s household of her uninvited arrival, but at the sound of voices in the hall, Mrs Frost, the housekeeper, came hurrying down the stairs with a welcoming smile.
‘Ah, Miss Shelford. I’m sure the mistress will be delighted to find her sister already here when she arrives.’ She too, seemed careful not to stare at the bruise.
Victoria strained to make sense of whatever was happening. ‘I understood that Mr and Mrs Clifford were not due back from Italy for another month or so.’
Mrs Frost nodded. ‘Yes, of course, but the honeymoon has had to be cut short because travelling becomes such a misery at a time like this, doesn’t it? My own poor daughter suffered the same sickness – morning, noon and night – when her first baby was on the way. Mr Clifford and the mistress are expected back any day now, and the master informed us that he was about to write and ask if you’d be able to come to be with Mrs Clifford. It’s extremely kind of you to arrive early.’
Emily! Victoria’s heart melted at the thought of little Emmie becoming a mother.
‘Perhaps, Miss Shelford, you would like to be shown to your room and—’
Victoria interrupted. ‘Mrs Frost, I must tell you that I’m no longer Miss Shelford. I was married a month before my sister and Mr Clifford, though ours was a very small wedding.’ She pulled off her glove to show the ring. ‘I am now Mrs Peter Latham, and my husband is abroad on business – maritime business.’
The housekeeper expressed her delight at the news, and so did Emily and Martin when they arrived home three days later and heard the full story of her time in Devon. ‘I knew that neither Mama nor Papa would be delighted to hear that I’d lost my heart to Peter Latham, but—’ She heaved a heavy sigh. ‘Well, Mama has destroyed my marriage certificate, but I absolutely refuse to let her destroy my marriage.’
‘Oh, Vicky, dearest,’ Emily said weakly, as she settled back on her pillow following another bout of nausea, ‘your Peter sounds perfectly wonderful, and how romantic to think that you’ll be sailing away beside him one day. Yes, I know you’re going to be so happy. As happy as I am.’
‘Yes, I will – some day.’ But for the time being, Victoria was glad to settle into a routine that revolved around Emily’s care and comfort. The doctor confirmed that the baby was progressing well, but no matter what was tried, nothing seemed to relieve her bouts of sickness. Whenever her strength permitted it, Emily asked to be taken to the greenhouse to be with Martin while he tended his plants, and Victoria soon found herself making most of the day to day domestic decisions at Cloudhill.
‘I hope I’m not seen to be
They’d been frightened and bruised, but they’d scrambled from the upturned vehicle and, after sitting by the roadside for a few hours, the wheel had been replaced and they were on their way again.
She saw a moral in there somewhere. Life as she’d know it had just be turned upside down, but before the next day dawned, she’d reached a decision about how to set it back on course while she waited for the Fortitude ’s return.
She packed a portmanteau, left a forwarding address with the footman and caught the first train to Somerset. Emily and Martin were away on their honeymoon, but Victoria knew that they’d offer her refuge at Cloudhill while she waited for Peter to come back.
CHAPTER FIVE
When the door of Cloudhill was opened to Victoria’s knock, the butler’s long face broke into a smile. ‘Why, Miss Shelford, how good of you to come so soon! Mrs Frost is airing your room at this very moment.’ His glance quickly slid away from the bruise left by her mother’s blow on her cheek last night.
The man’s greeting puzzled her. She’d sent no message to inform Martin’s household of her uninvited arrival, but at the sound of voices in the hall, Mrs Frost, the housekeeper, came hurrying down the stairs with a welcoming smile.
‘Ah, Miss Shelford. I’m sure the mistress will be delighted to find her sister already here when she arrives.’ She too, seemed careful not to stare at the bruise.
Victoria strained to make sense of whatever was happening. ‘I understood that Mr and Mrs Clifford were not due back from Italy for another month or so.’
Mrs Frost nodded. ‘Yes, of course, but the honeymoon has had to be cut short because travelling becomes such a misery at a time like this, doesn’t it? My own poor daughter suffered the same sickness – morning, noon and night – when her first baby was on the way. Mr Clifford and the mistress are expected back any day now, and the master informed us that he was about to write and ask if you’d be able to come to be with Mrs Clifford. It’s extremely kind of you to arrive early.’
Emily! Victoria’s heart melted at the thought of little Emmie becoming a mother.
‘Perhaps, Miss Shelford, you would like to be shown to your room and—’
Victoria interrupted. ‘Mrs Frost, I must tell you that I’m no longer Miss Shelford. I was married a month before my sister and Mr Clifford, though ours was a very small wedding.’ She pulled off her glove to show the ring. ‘I am now Mrs Peter Latham, and my husband is abroad on business – maritime business.’
The housekeeper expressed her delight at the news, and so did Emily and Martin when they arrived home three days later and heard the full story of her time in Devon. ‘I knew that neither Mama nor Papa would be delighted to hear that I’d lost my heart to Peter Latham, but—’ She heaved a heavy sigh. ‘Well, Mama has destroyed my marriage certificate, but I absolutely refuse to let her destroy my marriage.’
‘Oh, Vicky, dearest,’ Emily said weakly, as she settled back on her pillow following another bout of nausea, ‘your Peter sounds perfectly wonderful, and how romantic to think that you’ll be sailing away beside him one day. Yes, I know you’re going to be so happy. As happy as I am.’
‘Yes, I will – some day.’ But for the time being, Victoria was glad to settle into a routine that revolved around Emily’s care and comfort. The doctor confirmed that the baby was progressing well, but no matter what was tried, nothing seemed to relieve her bouts of sickness. Whenever her strength permitted it, Emily asked to be taken to the greenhouse to be with Martin while he tended his plants, and Victoria soon found herself making most of the day to day domestic decisions at Cloudhill.
‘I hope I’m not seen to be
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